World Famous Comics: Manual of the Planes: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (D&D Rules Expansion)
Manual of the Planes: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (D&D Rules Expansion)
By: Wizards RPG Team Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Wizards of the Coast Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: December 16, 2008 Release Date: December 16, 2008
Product Description: If you seek to stem this tide of chaos at its source, follow my lead--I set out for the dreaded Abyss on the morrow. --Lord Amgar the Bold, Paladin of Bahamut
The planes have always been a place of great mystery and danger in the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game, and the new array of planes debuting in 4th Edition continue that grand tradition. Home to gods and devils, demons and genies, fey and titans, these strange dimensions offer unlimited adventure opportunities for Dungeon Masters and their players.
This useful travel guide also comes in handy for players seeking to battle demons, devils, elementals, and other iconic D&D monsters native to the planes.
What's there is well done. The Manual of the Planes is an interesting but short DM-friendly book that illustrates the 4th Edition D&D cosmology. It opens with five mechanics-lite chapters on planar travel and four important regions of the D&D universe that do a good job of inspiring creativity in DMs. These five chapters describe the general World Axis Cosmology of this edition of D&D, along with portals, hazards, and a great deal of specifics on the Feywild, the Shadowfell, the Elemental Chaos, and the Astral Sea. Unfortunately, only a few specific locations (like Sigil) are thoroughly described, and other locations, including separate demiplanes like the Plane of Dreams and different universes like the Far Realm, receive only a short page of coverage each. This is disappointing in that the book contains only 159 numbered pages of material, and I find it unacceptable that many interesting concepts are almost entirely ignored by this US $30 book. While I enjoy cooking up my own material, the book would have felt like a better read if it were simply more inclusive. The mechanics heavy chapters unfortunately suffer similarly.
Chapters six and seven of the Manual cover monsters, paragon paths, rituals, and items. This is the meat of the book for me, and it suffers from the same problems as the flavor chapters: it lacks length. Several useful and interesting monsters, including a few unique and powerful demons and devils, are presented, but overall only 22 pages of monsters are included. The player options are no better: the entire chapter spans only 21 pages. The saving grace to these last two chapters is the thought and flavor behind them. Some of the monsters are alluded to in the flavor chapters, and the character options are certainly easy to insert into a planar campaign. Items include the classic Githyanki Silver weapon and a few interesting vehicles, and the rituals include new versions of fun spells like Rope Trick.
With all the complaints included in this review, you might think I'd give the book a low score. The problem is that after reading it, I want to do nothing of the sort. What flavor material is included is a fun read, and the extra, well-balanced mechanical options for players and DMs to add to the game will be well-used on my part. The value of the book weighs heavily with me, though, and I cannot justify a better rating than three stars. If you're looking for very general information on the planes, and you don't mind paying for only a little, grab this title. If you're a DM seeking more options for a campaign, I encourage you to look at Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead. In terms of format, length, and content quality, it is strictly superior to the Manual of the Planes.
Take a plane This book contains a lot of useful information for the dungeon master. It contains also useful information regarding feywild for eladrin player. I've been hated manual of planes in older version, but this version is very good.
Excellent Job, WotC! This is an excellent book. If you're at all interested in the planes, buy it. The new planar material is much more fresh and interesting than the old great wheel stuff, and I recommend all DMs check it out.
Excellent for any edition Very useful book. While it uses 4E cosmology it's far better than 3E version.
There is a guide for using Great Wheel instead if World Axis. Lots of fluff, not too much rules, so it's useful for any edition.
Complete waste of money and time I went through the 4th edition Manual of the Planes and the 3rd Edition side by side. The 3rd edition tome was full of useful information, really opened the mind to alternative setting, and had a cosmolgy that allowed for a diverse creation of adventures, histories and character options. The 4th edition verison was fluffy, over simplified, and - in comparison - actually dumb.
For example, in 3rd edition (and 1st and 2nd for that matter) Hell is one scarey place. Nine planes of existance modeled after Dante's Inferno. Eac having its own basis, leadership, and unique features. Many unique concepts, how the planer levels interacted, and mind puzzles a DM could have fun with - what happens if you go too close to the edge of a plane? What creatures might be involved with the blood wars? How could one travel the Styx to reach lower planes, or even other planes? In 2nd edition, Hell is a planet out in the Astral - sort of like another kind of outer-space. The nine layers are nine caves in the otherwise barren planet, each below the other. What a terrible and boring idea!
This is just one example, but all you need to do is skim through the book at your bookstore and you will pick up on dozens more, even lamer that Hell Planet! I would say it is best to just pass by this book. I would say it is best to just pass by this entire edition.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
